Raw Materials in Nigeria & Locations: Full List

Nigerian raw materials are very essential in the production of various types of products, depending on the material. They are gotten or extracted in their natural state to afterward processed to finished products.  With crude oil being the most important raw material in the country, we will also look at the other major raw materials in Nigeria, their description, uses and states where they are found.

List Of Raw Materials in Nigeria And Where They Are Located

Raw materials are classified as mineral and agricultural raw materials with respect to how they are sourced.

Here is the list of raw materials in the country and their locations:

Talc

Do you ever wonder the kind of material used in electrical cable and paper making, plastic, paint coatings, rubber, food, electric cable, pharmaceuticals, ceramics, etc. The availability of talc makes it possible for industries needing this raw material. The country has a large deposit of talc within and it’s estimated about 4 billion tons which serves both local and foreign demand.

States where Talc are found include:

• Kogi
• Oyo
• Osun
• Niger
• Nassarawa

Rubber

Rubber is an agricultural raw material that is gotten from the latex of the tropical plant, to be later used with chemicals and produce rubber products such as pencil erasers, balloons, condoms, protective gloves, adhesives (glues used in joining parts), and paints.

The rain forest vegetation region of the country has rubber in commercial quantities.  The states in Nigeria where rubber are found include:

• Ondo
• Edo
• Ogun
• Delta (Sapele)
• Cross River state

Cotton

Cotton is an essential fabric for clothing, and also as food. It is grown majorly in the Yoruba and the Hausa regions of the country because of the Guinea savanna which supports its growth.

The states cotton are grown in Nigeria are:

• Kano
• Kaduna
• Oyo
• Ondo
• Kwara
• Katsina
• Jigawa
• Ogun
• Kebbi
• Sokoto
•  Zamfara state

Timber

This is an essential wood-working material. Through it, products like wooden boxes, furnitures and matches can be produced.

Commercial quantity of timber are found in the following states:

• Edo
• Ogun
• Delta
• Bayelsa

The following are mineral raw materials in the country

Gemstones

Gemstones occur in its natural state as a mineral and is used to make jewelry and ornamentals, due to its physical attraction. Precious stones like ruby, emerald and sapphire are all gemstones.

These attractive stones are found in some Northern states like:

• Bauchi
• Plateau
• Kaduna

Gypsum

Gypsum is a soft white material in a chalk nature, and is used to produce plaster of paris, cement, and chalks.

The region in Nigeria where gypsum is situated include:

• Edo
• Delta
• Gombe
• Kogi

Coal

Coal is an energy raw material and for that it is one of the most valuable materials in Nigeria. Coal has many application from being used as charcoal, in many generating plants as energy fuel, and also a raw material for the metallurgical and chemical industries.

Commercial quantities of the black fuel are found in the Benue region of the country. The region includes these places where they are in significant deposits:

• Ogboyaga
• Enugu
• Okaba
• Orukpa

Kaolin

Kaolin which is also called China Clay is a white clay used in some medicines  and in the production of brick, cement, ceramics, and pottery. The special Kaolin which is whittish in color is found in some places in Nigeria, but the normal clay is found in almost every part of the country.

The states where clay is found include:

• Abuja
• Akwa Ibom
• Anambra
• Bauchi
• Benue
• Borno
• Cross River
• Delta
• Edo
• Lagos
• Nasarawa
• Ogun
• Ondo
• Oyo
• Sokoto

Bitumen

Bitumen is a sticky substance obtained from oil and is a material used in making roads. It is also very useful in the paint and cable industry, and also used in the construction engineering to manufacture roof materials, in buildings and structures, laying pipelines and the production of asphalt concrete.

Bitumen material is found in:

• Edo
• Ogun
• Ondo states of the country.

Bismuth

Bismuth is used to fix workpieces which are difficult to be done by metal cutting machines. These materials include uranium, tungsten and their alloys.

Bismuth is not found in many regions of the country as it can be found specifically in commercial quantity in:

• Kaduna state

Crude oil

Also known as Petroleum, is a mineral oil that is used to produce petrol, gas, paraffin, diesel oil and kerosine. Due to the high demand of these products for energy, it makes petroleum the most valuable raw material in Nigeria at present. Crude oil is situated in the Niger Delta region in large quantities.

These includes oil producing states like:

• Akwa Ibom
• Rivers
• Imo
• Delta
• Bayelsa
• Ondo
• Cross River.

Bentonite

This is an essential material used by the food industry for preservation of foods. It is also used in the processing of oil products in various industries and likewise used with barite for oil wells drilling.

Nigeria has a good quantity of Bentonite, about 700 million tons and they can be found significantly in the following states:

• Edo
• Borno
• Plateau
• Adamawa.

Barite

Barite is an important raw material, it is a mineral product used for a lot of purposes, and Nigeria has a record of about 7.5 million tons of barite located within its boundaries.

They are found in the following states:

• Bauchi
• Taraba

Aggregates

Aggregates They are used either in their natural state or can be developed to another product. Aggregates include Silica sand, gravel, and grind stones, and are used for construction and building works in erecting structures.

Commercial deposits of Aggregates are found in the following states:

• Delta
• Jigawa
• Ogun
• Lagos
• Ondo
• Yobe states.

Diatomite

Diatomite is another form of mineral raw material usually more useful in the food industry where it is applicable as a means of filtrating drinks and also for various chemicals and paints, acting as a filter.

Diatomite is found in Yobe state

Feldspar

This is a consequential material thathelps a lot in the ceramics and glass industries. They make use of the raw material to produce glass products and also ceramics.

Feldspar is situated in bulk in the following states:

• Abuja
• Kaduna
• Kano
• Kebbi
• Kogi
• Ogun
• Zamfara.

Cassaterite

Cassaterite is a raw material which is used for the production of tin ore. A marketable quantity of this mineral material are found in:

• Bauchi
• Cross-River
• Kano
• Kwara
• Nassarawa
• Plateau.

Lead and Zinc

Lead and Zinc are mineral resources used in the manufacture of products.

The country has commercial quantities of this material and are mostly in the east-central part of Nigeria. These states where lead can be found include:

• Enugu
• Abuja
• Cross River
• Kano
• Taraba.

Iron ore

Nigeria has a huge number of iron ores present and through it they generate a lot of revenue. These materials are also used in producing iron and steel products.

Commercial supplies of iron ore are found in these states:

• Enugu
• Abuja
• Niger
• Kogi

Salt

This is a very important and essential material to all household in Nigeria, where the most commonest is as it’s used as a cooking salt. Other uses of salt is for making caustic soda, table salt, chlorine, sodium hydrochloric acid, sodium bicarbonate and hydrogen peroxide. The extraction of salt is either obtaining from sea water or  mining them from rocks.

Salts are found in large quantities in these states:

• Ebonyi
• Edo
• Delta
• Akwa Ibom
• Anambra
• Enugu
• Benue
• Niger
• Kogi
• Kebbi

Conclusion

From the raw material above, it could be induced that Nigeria is blessed with lot of natural resources. These resources are uniformly spread through the country and we outlined the various raw materials and their locations in this article.